Education

8:14 am

Tue February 17, 2015

The committee tasked with creating Oklahoma's new academic standards following the repeal of Common Core met for the second time on Monday.

As KOSU's Emily Wendler reports, they are trying to learn as much as they can from other's trials and tribulations before embarking on their own journey.

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0:52

The academic standards steering committee—in charge of creating Oklahoma's new educational requirements for kindergarten through 12th grade—got guidance from three experts who have excelled in creating math and English programs in their own states.

Two days before the first of President Obama's executive actions on immigration were to take effect, the new rules have been put on hold by a federal judge's ruling in South Texas. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen said the president overstepped his authority.

Energy

4:51 pm

Mon February 16, 2015

A functioning oil rig sits in front of the capital building in Oklahoma City, Okla. The oil industry is an important employer in the state, but officials are concerned a technique used to dispose of wastewater from oil extraction is behind a surge in earthquakes here.

Local News

7:46 am

Mon February 16, 2015

For many convicted felons leaving Oklahoma prisons, repaying their debt to society means paying down a mountain of actual debt from court costs, fines and fees.

As OPMX’s Kate Carlton Greer reports in the final part of a collaboration between KOSU and Oklahoma Watch’s called Prisoners of Debt, keeping former inmates from re-offending and returning to prison often depends on help available when they’re released.

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4:03

Men and women clutch binders and sack lunches as they shuffle into a cafeteria and catch up before the day begins.

They’re all participants at TEEM, The Employment and Education Ministry, in Oklahoma City. It’s a non-violent prisoner re-entry program that helps offenders find jobs and get plugged back into society.

On a breezy morning next to a cornfield in rural Weld County, Colo., Jimmy Underhill quickly assembles a black and orange drone with four spinning rotors.

"This one just flies itself," he says. "It's fully autonomous."

Underhill is a drone technician with Agribotix, a Colorado-based drone startup that sees farmers as its most promising market. Today he's training his fellow employees how to work the machine in the field.